The South African government’s decision to build a further 9.6 GW of nuclear power generation capacity would result in a significant boost to the local economy, Rosatom sub-Saharan Africa VP Viktor Polikarpov has told Engineering News Online.

“Government should strive to develop an energy mix that will benefit both the local community and the economic growth of the country and nuclear is essential to this mix,” he said this week.

Rosatom was one of the bidders that wanted to participate in South Africa’s new nuclear build programme, with Polikarpov saying the company was willing to showcase its capabilities through its existing projects across the globe.

Rosatom this week hosted various South African journalists on a tour of the Paks nuclear power plant (NPP) in Hungary, which local authorities say has benefited the local community.

“Today, Paks is one of the most economically stable cities in Hungary with over 35% of the city’s taxes being generated by the NPP,” said Paks mayor Jonos Suli.

He noted that the purpose of the tour was to highlight the company’s capabilities outside of Russia and said Rosatom was capable of replicating the economic spinoffs that were achieved at Paks on a larger scale in South Africa.

The 2 000 MW Paks nuclear plant supplied more than half of the country’s electricity.

Suli pointed out that Hungary did not have many options when it came to baseload power.

“We don’t have access to coal or other hydrocarbons and, although the country is rich in water resources, the landscape does not allow for significant hydropower projects,” he said.

He reiterated that the city of Paks benefited greatly from the NPP and that it looked forward to the construction of a further 2 400 MW of nuclear power generation capacity, with construction on the new reactors to start at the existing nuclear facility in 2018.

Rosatom reiterated that it would be able to ensure job creation and localisation on a larger scale in South Africa should it be awarded the contract to build the country’s proposed new nuclear reactors.

“We can localise as much as 30% on the first unit that we build and up to 60% on the final unit in South Africa,” Polikarpov said.

Rosatom aimed to build awareness around nuclear energy in South Africa, stating that the nuclear industry was the most promising job creating solution for the country.

*Anine Killian was a guest of Rosatom on a press tour in Hungary.